Sex Differences in Children's Perception of Divorce.

This investigation was undertaken to assess children's views of peers who had experienced a parental divorce. The subjects were distributed equally across sex, developmental level (third grade and fifth grade), and background (divorce and non-divorce). The relationships between these independent subject variables and the children's perception of divorce were examined. The sample (N = 82) was comprised of middle- to lower-middle-class public school children nearly all of whom were white. A controlled projective technique was employed for the assessment of the subject's thoughts and feelings about a male and a female peer each of whom had experienced a parental divorce. The subjects were read stories about these hypothetical peers. These stimulus figures (SFs) were described in behavioral terms as having moderate difficulties in peer relations and academic functioning. Semi-structured interviews followed each story. Transcripts of the interviews were assessed for the subjects' degree of internal versus external orientation to the SFs in terms of description, self-blame for parental divorce, and the expression of divorce-related distress (e.g., behavior disorder versus subjective psychological symptoms). The second major dimension analyzed was the subjects' attribution of affect to the SFs. It was found that girls oriented more than boys to internal qualities of the SFs in terms of description and the expression of divorce-related distress. Older girls, in comparison to male peers and both younger boys and girls, most frequently perceived self-blame for parental divorce. This finding departs significantly from the commonly reported finding of greater self-blame for parental divorce among younger children and highlights the utility of controlled projective as opposed to more direct techniques of studying children and divorce. The male SF was most frequently perceived as angry, the female SF as sad. Female subjects more accurately identified the affective states of the SFs than male subjects. Girls were consistently more optimistic than boys in regard to the predicted future adjustment (in teenage and adulthood) of the SFs with one striking exception. Girls of divorce backgrounds, in comparison to boys of divorce backgrounds and both girls and boys of non-divorce backgrounds, were most pessimistic about the SFs' future adjustment in adult family life.Ph.D.Clinical psychologyUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/159218/1/8304530.pd

A Rational Post-Booker Proposal for Reform of Federal Sentencing Enhancements for Prior Convictions

In this article we propose a solution to one of the more vexing problems in current federal sentencing jurisprudence: classification of prior offenses for the purpose of applying sentencing enhancements in immigration cases. The current system is unduly difficult to apply and leads to poor sentencing outcomes. We urge the United States Sentencing Commission to conduct systematic empirical surveys of crime definitions and prosecution practice, on both the interstate and intrastate level. The Commission should use those surveys to determine which specific statutes of conviction should trigger the relevant enhancements, instead of forcing the courts to decide on a statute-by-statute basis. On the interstate level, the surveys would allow the Commission to identify state codes that are out of sync with the national norm. On the intrastate level, the surveys would allow the Commission to determine whether a facially non-generic statute was actually being applied to non-generic predicate facts. The current system also lumps too many types of prior convictions into the same enhancement levels and largely ignores the length of sentence received for the prior convictions. We propose a graduated scale of enhancements based on empirical evaluation of the severity of predicate offenses as measured by federal sentencing practices

Adaptação e validação de construto da Escala de Satisfação no Trabalho Adaptation and construct validation of Job Satisfaction Scale

O objetivo deste estudo foi revisar, validar e apurar a fidedignidade da Escala de Satisfação no Trabalho, composta por 116 itens agrupados em 14 fatores válidos com fidedignidade insatisfatória. A revisão semântica manteve 113 itens, aplicados a 600 trabalhadores-estudantes, sendo 51% mulheres, com nível de escolaridade média e superior, com idade média de 26 anos. Análises dos componentes principais e scree plot indicavam haver 7 a 12 componentes. A fatoração dos eixos principais com rotações Varimax e Promax reduziu a escala para 45 itens agrupados em seis fatores: "satisfação com suporte organizacional", "satisfação com utilidade social da organização e do trabalho", "satisfação com relacionamento afetivo no trabalho", "satisfação com reconhecimento profissional", "insatisfação com inadequação da chefia e falta de oportunidades" e "insatisfação com sobrecarga de trabalho" com alfas de 0,86, 0,81, 0,80, 0,82, 0,85 e 0,81. A estrutura do construto confirmou-se afetiva e multideterminada. Esta conclusão corroborou achados da área.<br>The purpose of this study was revise semantic contents, validating and establishing the reliability of the Job Satisfaction Scale, formed by 116 items and grouped in 14 valid factors with unsatisfactory reliability. The semantic revision retained 113 applied to 600 workers-students, 51% women, at nocturnal schools of medium and superior scholarship with average age of 26 years old. Analyses of the principal components and scree plot pointed 7 to 12 components. The principal axis factoring (Varimax and Promax rotation) reduced the scale to 45 items grouped in 6 factors: "satisfaction with organizational support", "satisfaction with social utility of the organization and of work", "satisfaction with affective relationship at work", "satisfaction with professional recognition", "insatisfaction with inadequacy of the working opportunities" and "insatisfaction with working overload". Cronbach's alfas were .86, .81, .80, .82, .85 and .81. The job satisfaction construct was confirmed like affective and composed by two sets of factors. This conclusion corroborates the literature